In order to meet the goals set out in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the authors argue for an improved, more interconnected system of supports for early learning that can provide information gathering, analysis and reporting on an ongoing basis to inform all the stakeholders of learning opportunities for America's children. These consumers of child care data include parents, community planners and economic developers, employers, policy decision-makers, programming decision-makers, and researchers. A description of each type of data (primary, licensing, subsidy, and research and referral) is presented along with a comparison of their features, advantages and disadvantages, and optimal uses in and for decision-making. In order to fill the gap between the amount of data needed by consumers and the amount of data available, it is recommended that a center for data aggregation and dissemination be put into place. Such a data collecting system should honor the personal privacy of parents and children while making comparable, locally-derived information available for national, state, and local stakeholders.